Depending on who you are, Fat Tuesday, which is today, often means something different. For Adam Richey, junior biological sciences major, it means one thing and one thing only. So what does he do?

“Eat a lot,” Richey said.

Each year, Fat Tuesday falls on the day before Ash Wednesday which is 46 days before Easter. For some, like Richey, it is a day to eat as some people choose to give up one of their favorite foods for Lent, the 40 days preceding Easter. They consider today, as some call it, “the feast before the fast.”

Therefore, for many bakeries, it is one of their biggest sales days of the year. Many serve paczkis (pronounced poonch-keys) which are similar to donuts and are filled with things like cheese and fruit and are a popular pastry for many Americans on Fat Tuesday.

John Henner, owner of Neighborhood Bakery, 225 E. Locust St., said that Fat Tuesdays are generally very busy.

“The economy doesn’t affect paczkis,” he said, adding that a bakery is “kind of like a recession-proof business.”

For bars, it’s a day to have an annual Fat Tuesday celebration as some Americans see the day as simply a time to party.

Fatty’s Pub and Grille, 1312 W. Lincoln Highway, has a celebration every Fat Tuesday as well as every Tuesday this month. Everyone who comes in before 10:30 p.m. tonight gets beads, said owner Jeff Dobie, and the person with the most beads at the end of the night wins Cubs tickets and a cash prize.

“However you get them as long as it’s in a decent manner; we don’t encourage any shenanigans,” Dobie said.

For those in New Orleans, today is Mardi Gras which translates to “Fat Tuesday” in French.

And some people, of course, choose not to celebrate or recognize Fat Tuesday at all.

Rev. Marty Marks, president of the Association of Campus Religious Organizations, said Fat Tuesday isn’t necessarily a religious holiday.

“The real event for Christians, especially traditionally, is Ash Wednesday… It’s a somber time. It’s a reflexive time,” he said, adding that Fat Tuesday has become more of a cultural event than a religious one.

People figure that “on the Tuesday before Lent, since we’re going to be somber for 40 days, let’s party,” Marks said. Personally, instead of giving something up for Lent, Marks likes to do something that helps people. “There are folks in the Lutheran Church who do,” he said of giving something up for Lent. “I’ve always wondered how that benefits God?”

Some time today, Richey will figure out what he’s giving up for Lent. And then he’s going to splurge.

“I try to give up one thing each year. I decide what I’m going to give up, and I eat it on Fat Tuesday,” he said.